Pages

Sunday, 11 June 2017

If you're white, you've probably seen yourself in books your whole life. But as a British Pakistani Muslim, it's rare for me to truly find a character I can point at and say: "That person, I share their experiences."No more, because Sandhya Menon has written When Dimple Met Rishi, a - if we're searching for a quick pitch - YA arranged marriage rom com.And reading When Dimple Met Rishi was one of the best, most joyful reading experiences of my life. It starts with the cover (and I know you shouldn't judge), which depicts a brown girl, smiling widely, wearing henna and a kurta, and sipping an iced coffee. It's joyful.Here's a book about a brown girl, and she's not oppressed, and it's not about terrorism or struggles with religion or culture. Instead, it's a book about a brown girl with slightly overprotective parents, who get on her nerves sometimes. It's a book about a brown girl with big dreams doing everything she can to make them come true. It's a book about a brown girl navigating friendships. And it's a book about a brown girl falling in love with a guy she never expected to like.

Monday, 26 December 2016

I thought 2016 had a bit of a slow start when it came to books, but some of the books I've read this year are among the best I've ever read, and I'll be talking about my 10 favourite for years to come.

I made a conscious effort to try and read more books by writers of colour this year, something which bears out in my best of 2016 list (even though I still read more books by white writers, could the fact that the majority of my list is books by non-white people possibly show the really high quality of writing by writers of colour who do get published? Discuss).

There were some notable gaps in my reading this year - I failed to get round to Sarah Perry's much-lauded The Essex Serpent, which I'm now saving for a time when I can savour it, and I skipped most of the Man Booker Prize shortlist because it just didn't capture me this year, plus I've not read as much YA as I did in previous years.

Sunday, 27 November 2016

The Gilmore Girls revival - we've all been waiting for it, wanting to revisit Stars Hollow, hang out with our favourite characters (Emily and Paris, for what it's worth), see who Rory ends up (#TeamJess).Well, I'm here to tell you the wait was not worth it. Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life - made up of four episodes by the show's creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino - is a trash fire with few redeeming qualities. It's horrible and awful, and it features terrible characters who act in terrible ways. In short, it's ruined the original Gilmore Girls forever.Warning, there are spoilers ahead for all four episodes...

Tuesday, 5 July 2016

Sometimes a book hits at the right time. The Good Immigrant, edited by Nikesh Shukla and crowdfunded on the publishing platform Unbound, is one of those books.

I'm heartbroken over the result of the EU referendum, saddened and angered by the surge in openly racist attacks, and all round worried about the future of the UK. And even before the referendum, who can have missed the discourse around immigrants in recent months, even years? From Prime Minister David Cameron calling refugees seeking shelter from war a "swarm" to Donald Trump's plans to build a wall between Mexico and America and ban all Muslims from entering the US, it can seem like an awful time to not be white.

So The Good Immigrant is both a soothing balm and a fiery call to action against the ugliness of the world today. As
the daughter of immigrants, I have a particular interest in this book,
but this collection of essays is essential reading for all human beings.
It's not a book of essays where non-white people moan about how they're
treated unfairly - it's a collection of nuanced pieces looking at the
immigrant experience, providing a state of the nation and serving as an
eye-opening agent for change. During my reading I laughed, I fought back tears, I nodded in understanding, I got angry, and I also felt inspired.

Sunday, 17 April 2016

I'm a little bit obsessed with The People v OJ Simpson, and as well as tuning in every week to the TV programme I've been reading a lot around the subject, from pieces of journalism from the time of the trial to think pieces.

If you're as fascinated by me as the case (and you've read the book by Jeffrey Toobin that the show is based on), here is some recommended further reading...

ShareThis

About Me

I work in the media industry, and have a voracious appetite for news, books and great (and rubbish) television. Herein you'll mostly find reviews of the things I'm reading and watching, plus occasionally the places I'm going and the things I'm eating.